To Ship or Not to Ship

In July I will be moving from MA to TX. I have two leopard geckos and one mali uromastyx that will be moving with me. I'm trying to decide whether or not I should ship them or bring them in the car. My reservations about the car is that it's going to be at least 3 days. However, I'll have them with me and I can check on them whereas with shipping them I won't know how they're doing until they get there.

I have never shipped an animal before. When I move to MA from NH it was only an hour and a half drive so I just put them in shoe boxes and held them in my lap.

As long as you can keep the car warm enough and have temporary enclosures to put them in when you stop, I don't think it will be a problem. When my Gecko Time partner moved from GA to MA he actually packed his geckos in deli cups in a cooler and kept them cool for the 2-3 day trip. They slow down when they get cool. I think the enclosure at night idea will be a bit easier on them. Don't worry if they don't eat; they'll be fine for that amount of time. Shipping is really expensive as well.

Aliza

Shipping is a quick and reliable choice. You can send them out late in the day, and have them in hand the following morning.

Doing a multi-day trip in a vehicle brings a lot of variables into the picture, including temperature control, hydration, feeding, stress and more.

The expense of shipping overnight is small compared to the health and welfare of the animals.

If you do decide to travel by car, pack them just as if you were shipping. Insulated box, deli cup or bag, packaging material to prevent jostling. Keep the box away from any direct heating or cooling. That is the safest, least stressful method if you do decide to travel by car.

Best of luck.

My concern here is how would you ship them? Is someone already there to receive them? Other than that, I agree with both posts above. Many animals do fine for a few days without heat and food (but they will need water). Kind of like the breeders who travel for shows. Those geckos, etc, are in deli cups for days. But shipping is probably a bit less stressful because it's much quicker. Either way, I think you'll be safe with the above suggestions.

Kristi23 said:

My concern here is how would you ship them? Is someone already there to receive them? Other than that, I agree with both posts above. Many animals do fine for a few days without heat and food (but they will need water). Kind of like the breeders who travel for shows. Those geckos, etc, are in deli cups for days. But shipping is probably a bit less stressful because it's much quicker. Either way, I think you'll be safe with the above suggestions.

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This is my biggest worry about shipping. I'd either have to send them to my boyfriend ahead of time because he's going to fly up to help me move. However, it seems like that's going to be the best option as I plan on getting new setups for them and selling off what I have anyway because I'm not dragging two 40gal breeder tanks with me. I'm also just not sure how my uro is going to ship. I was looking online and the geckos will go in deli cups, they'll be ok, but my ufo is much too large for that and the option shipyourreptiles.com had was a bag, I just don't see her reacting to that very well. She's also getting older, I got her at least third hand so I don't have an exact age, but she's definitely in her teens.

It's looking like I'll probably fly down a few weeks before the move, set up new enclosures and teach the bf how to care for them, then ship them to him a week before the move something.


Thank you for all your help.

Update:

I did end up using shipyourreptiles. Everyone arrived safe and sound yesterday morning. I had them shipped to a FedEx hub and my boyfriend picked them up during his lunch break. They are now all settled in to their new enclosures and are doing great.

Glad it worked out.

Aliza